# Strange Museums (as in, way too specialised) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052 "2019-08-02T11:14:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/41 "2019-08-04T08:15:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Madison, Wisconsin, has a mustard museum. > [@kitap](#): > > Technically The Mustard Museum is in Middleton, not Madison. Separate towns (though they’ve grown out to each other these days). > [@WildaBeast](#): > > Hey, tomorrow is [National Mustard Day](https://mustardmuseum.com/annual-national-mustard-day/2019-mustard-day/)! Is anyone planning on attending the big mustard festival in Middleton? Norwich, England had its own mustard museum, run by Colman’s, the biggest British mustard company. Closed 2017. I went there a couple of times when I was at University locally. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/42 "2019-08-04T08:32:23Z")
The British Lawnmower Museum: [http://lawnmowerworld.com/](http://lawnmowerworld.com/) And in Belgium there is a Carrot Museum: [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-carrots](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-carrots) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mr.Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Bill)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/43 "2019-08-04T12:44:50Z")
In the basement of the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, MA you can find the **Museum of Bad Art**. [http://museumofbadart.org/collections/](http://museumofbadart.org/collections/) I hear it’s looking for a new home, though, so if you’re interested… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/44 "2019-08-04T17:42:07Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > [www.jellogallery.org/](http://www.jellogallery.org/) > > I found out this was a thing due to a mid-century recipe blogger [www.midcenturymenu.com](http://www.midcenturymenu.com) > some of the stuff she posted from her trip there was interesting in a historical sort of way I recently went to a wedding in the Rochester area. There were pamphlets about the Jello Gallery in the motels and billboards on the highway. If it hadn’t been so long since I saw all of the other relatives attending, I might have made a side trip. There’s the [Spam Museum](https://www.spam.com/museum) in Austin, Minnesota. I’ve never been, so I can’t give a review. I’ve heard that there’s a Roto Rooter Museum, where they keep the yearly winners of the longest root removed from a sewer pipe. At one time I could find it by googling, but can’t now. Maybe it is defunct. > [@beowulff](#): > > I’m not sure this really counts, since it’s impossible to classify what this place actually is, but it’s interesting and worth a visit: > [THE MUSEUM of JURASSIC TECHNOLOGY](http://mjt.org) This is on my bucket list! I once saw a documentary on it and am entranced with it. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/45 "2019-08-04T18:38:59Z")
The penis museum in Reykjavik is small but it will grow on you. They supposedly have a penis of every mammal native to Iceland - including humans. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/46 "2019-08-04T19:08:24Z")
There used to be a Museum of Questionable [Medical Devices](http://www.museumofquackery.com) in Minneapolis. It has now gone to a strictly on-line venue. In Rome, on the Via Veneto, there is the very macabre [Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars](https://archaeology-travel.com/italy/capuchin-crypt-rome/) (scroll down), which features several rooms completely decorated with the bones of thousands of ex-Friars. They don’t allow photography, but are happy to sell you postcards. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/47 "2019-08-04T20:15:35Z")
Ava Gardner has a museum close to me but I have not been there. It’s close to where she grew up. [https://www.avagardner.org/](https://www.avagardner.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/48 "2019-08-05T23:21:07Z")
There is a group of engineers and scientists at the University of Minnesota whose specialty is the behavior of tiny particles floating in air – dust, smoke, fog, mist, and so forth. They have several of the earliest versions of instruments that measure airborne particles, such as differential mobility analyzers, aerodynamic analyzers, laser particle counters, diffusion batteries, condensation nuclei counters, and so forth. They keep these locked away someplace safe but will sometimes show the collection off to guests, and I’ve been treated to such a show. I think this amounts to an extremely specialized (and unnamed) museum. Or at least, this was the case about 20 or 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/49 "2019-08-05T23:21:57Z")
Maybe I should check this out - [California Foundry History Museum](http://www.foundryhistory.org/), Lodi, CA. Bakersfield has a museum dedicated to Buck Owens. That’s pretty specialized. It’s part of a [music venue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Owens_Crystal_Palace). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/50 "2019-08-05T23:31:45Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > There is a group of engineers and scientists at the **University of Minnesota** whose specialty is the behavior of tiny particles floating in air – dust, smoke, fog, mist, and so forth. They have several of the earliest versions of instruments that measure airborne particles, such as differential mobility analyzers, aerodynamic analyzers, laser particle counters, diffusion batteries, condensation nuclei counters, and so forth. They keep these locked away someplace safe but will sometimes show the collection off to guests, and I’ve been treated to such a show. I think this amounts to an extremely specialized (and unnamed) museum. Or at least, this was the case about 20 or 25 years ago. Too bad it’s not in [Kansas.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ) d&r ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/51 "2019-08-06T00:09:48Z")
We just had this one on the local news and my first thought is who w9uod go to that? [It’s](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/colfax-avenue-museum) a museum dedicated to a street in Denver, Colfax avenue. The claim to fame if I remember my local history correctly is that is the longest continuous street in the US. I have no idea why its history deserves a museum. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/52 "2019-08-06T00:22:36Z")
Re: The Museum of Jurassic Technology…one of my favorite exhibits there was a portrait gallery of Russian space dogs. 😃 The Santa Cruz Surfing Museum is indeed small–it’s a 10 minute stop unless you decide to read every single article and watch all the videos. The [Morro Bay Skateboard Museum](http://www.mbskate.com/aboutus) is pretty cool. I was talking to the curator Jack Smith and discovered that we were teenagers the San Jose area around the same time…but he lived up on Mt. Umunhum where his dad was stationed. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/53 "2019-08-06T01:13:56Z")
Blast it, so many of the museums I clicked on this thread to post about have already been metioned - I guess that’s a good thing about this message board, right? Let’s see…what strange, too-specialized museums have I been to that have yet to be mentioned…? [Cole Land Transportation Museum](https://www.colemuseum.org/) in Bangor, Maine [Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss](https://springfieldmuseums.org/about/dr-seuss-museum/) in Springfield, Massachusetts, which does a FANTASTIC job of capturing the spirit of his life and works. [American Clock and Watch Museum](https://www.clockandwatchmuseum.org/) and [New England Carousel Museum](https://www.thecarouselmuseum.org/), both in Bristol, Connecticut [Treasures of the Sea Exhibit](http://www.treasuresofthesea.org/) in Georgetown, Delaware - dedicated to the recovered artifacts of a specific shipwreck By the same token, there’s also the [Arabia Steamboat Museum](https://www.1856.com/) in Kansas City, Missouri. I’m sure I can come up with more…I’ve (thank G-d) had the privilege of doing a LOT of traveling around the United States and Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/54 "2019-08-06T01:53:50Z")
The [National Bottle Museum](http://nationalbottlemuseum.org) in Ballston Spa, NY is actually a very cool little place with an especial focus on early American glassblowing and bottle design. They also have a hot-glass teaching facility if you want to learn how to blow glass yourself. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/55 "2019-08-06T03:09:02Z")
Two that aren’t too small, but may be obscure enough for the list. My wife and I liked them both: [The Museum of the Moving Image](http://www.movingimage.us) [The Newseum.](https://www.newseum.org) And, one of my favorites (I’ve been twice) - [EBR-1](https://inl.gov/experimental-breeder-reactor-i/). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/56 "2019-08-06T04:25:55Z")
St. Louis used to have a bowling museum. About 10 years ago, it was relocated to Arlington, TX. I saw it while visiting St. Louis some years back, and found it quite interesting even though I’m not much of a bowler. > **[International Bowling Hall of Fame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bowling_Hall_of_Fame)** > > The World Bowling Writers (WBW) International Bowling Hall of Fame was established in 1993 and is located in the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, on the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas. > The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame was located at 11 Stadium Plaza, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and shared the same building with the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum, until November 8, 2008. It moved to Arlington and reopened in early 2010. In 2012, the WBW was... There’s a Wizard of Oz museum in Liberal, Kansas. It’s part of their county museum. > **[Wizard of Oz, Coronado Museum - Seward County Historical Society - Liberal, Ks](http://www.dorothyshouse.com/)** The first college of chiropractic has a museum, concentrated in the main building but exhibits are scattered throughout the campus. I’ve been there, and it’s very interesting to see how the profession changed over the decades, and especially the participation of women. Let’s face it - when it was invented, it was as good as anything. Unfortunately, too many of them still think so. > **[Chiropractic History Museum - Palmer College of Chiropractic](https://www.palmer.edu/about-palmer/palmer-college-history/chiropractic-history-museum/)** > > Palmer College has a rich collection of historical items from the Palmer residence and the family's global travels. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/57 "2019-08-06T04:44:54Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There’s a sign on a road I sometimes cycle on that says “Rice Museum, next left” or something like that. I’ve long wondered why there’d be a museum about rice in Hillsboro Oregon, and this thread made me look it up. Of course, it’s not about rice, but rather [rocks](https://ricenorthwestmuseum.org/). Kind of humdrum for this thread, though. I went to a place that claimed to be a “Museum of Famous Rocks” in a park near Nanjing, China. It was actually more like a small collection of somewhat unusual-looking rocks. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/58 "2019-08-06T08:52:11Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I went to a place that claimed to be a “Museum of Famous Rocks” in a park near Nanjing, China. It was actually more like a small collection of somewhat unusual-looking rocks. Ooh, that reminds me: The Japanese [Museum of Rocks that Look Like Faces](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/11/the-japanese-museum-of-rocks-that-look-like-faces/)…including one that looks like Elvis! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/59 "2019-08-06T17:36:28Z")
Once, as I was walking in San Francisco on my way to the [Cartoon Art Museum](https://www.cartoonart.org/), I passed a temporary exhibit of The San Francisco That Never Was (paraphrased). It was a collection of models and drawings of proposed buildings and other developments that had never been approved, never gotten funding, or otherwise never gotten built in San Francisco. I really wanted to see it, but it wasn’t open yet and once we were done with the CAM, we absolutely had to go the the Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is definitely not too specialized. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052/60 "2019-08-06T18:18:50Z")
I don’t know if it’s still there, but there used to be a lightbulb museum in Baltimore. I recently went past the firehouse museum, also in Baltimore. The state fairgrounds in Timonium Md has a small museum dedicated to the history of the MD state fair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-museums-as-in-way-too-specialised/838052.md?page=4)